KITCHEN CALL: Family grows, Christmas tradition continues

Some years ago, my then-single brother Phil took over hosting la vigilia di natale, the Christmas Eve party our Italian-American family celebrated for as long as anyone remembers.

Linda Bassett/ KitchenCall@aol.com

Some years ago, my then-single brother Phil took over hosting la vigilia di natale, the Christmas Eve party our Italian-American family celebrated for as long as anyone remembers. He managed to recreate nearly every one of my grandmother’s traditional dishes, except eel. (On the subject of eel, I don’t recommend cooking something that needs to kept alive in the bathtub until the cook slits its throat and pries off the skin with pliers.)

We still marvel that Phil nailed that menu, while forgetting plates, napkins and flatware. The next year, Jodi entered the picture and supplied eating utensils, napkins, tablecloths and even candles. Phil still does the bulk of the cooking, making it more memorable each year.

Once upon a time, my grandmother cooked the foods she remembered her grandmother cooking, complete with handmade pasta and home-baked pastries. Then, my folks took over the festivities, while a new generation filled their house.

Over the years, the table grows longer and longer. This year there will be newlyweds and newly engaged, college students home between semesters and young professionals flying in from far corners of the world.

But there hasn’t been a baby in a long time. Until this year when we welcome Baby Declan. He is more than just a new baby: He is the first of the next generation. For this year, four generations, from a great-grandmother to a newborn, will share the table.

Declan won’t know it yet, but the occasion is also called the Feast of the Seven Fishes. He won’t taste the lobster, baked stuffed shrimp, baked scallops, spaghetti with anchovies, linguine with clam sauce, or stuffed calamari. He won’t turn his nose up at the baccala, dried cod in tomato sauce. Instead, he will be passed gently, through countless diaper changes, from one pair of loving arms to another. He’ll stare at colored lights and hear the sound of sleigh bells for the first time.

Too young to gum a Christmas cookie, the new baby will be our reminder of love and family and tradition.

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One of my aunts always made a few wreath cookies for a holiday cookie platter. I think she learned them in a junior high home economics class. By the time she had children, food coloring was considered unhealthy, so she used them as garnishes to make a plate of bakery cookies look more personal. The kids always scooped them up anyway.

I included the orange cheesecake cookies for fun. Absolutely non-traditional, they are still delicious and easy to make.

MARSHMALLOW-CORNFLAKE WREATHS

Makes about 20

The one adds a gluten-free cookie to the table. A number of supermarkets carry natural food coloring products.

2. Drop by the tablespoon full onto waxed or parchment paper. Form into tiny wreaths with your fingers. Decorate with the candies while still soft so they stick. They will firm up as they cool.

ORANGE-CHEESE CAKE SHORTBREAD COOKIES

For 24 cookies

These are definitely non-Italian-American. However, to make them just slightly so, a cook can use half the cream cheese and add an equal amount of ricotta cheese to the topping mix, then stir in a bit of chopped candied fruit.

For the shortbread layer:

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Process all the ingredients together until the mixture forms small lumps. Sprinkle this mixture into a 13x9x2-inch baking ban. Press evenly into the bottom of the baking pan.

3. Bake the shortbread on the center rack of the oven, about 20 minutes, until golden.

Filling:

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup orange preserves

1.Beat the cream cheese until smooth, adding the eggs, sugar and vanilla.

3. Bake on center shelf of oven, about 30 minutes, until slightly puffed on top. Cool completely in pan before cutting into 24 bars.

Linda Bassett is the author of “From Apple Pie to Pad Thai: Neighborhood Cooking North of Boston.” Reach her by e-mail at KitchenCall@aol.com. Read Linda’s blog at LindABCooks.wordpress.com. Follow Linda for quick recipes on Twitter at @Kitchencall.